Additional effects of acupuncture on early comprehensive rehabilitation in patients with mild to moderate acute ischemic stroke: a multicenter randomized controlled trial

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of trial participants

Variable	AG (N = 125)^a	NAG (N = 125)^a	P
Age, Mean (SD), y	62.52(10.60)	64.06(10.54)	0.231
Male sex, n (%) History of stroke, Mean (SD) d	74(59.20) 4.53(1.13)	74(59.20) 4.48(1.32)	1.000 0.738
Left side of hemiparesis, n (%)	83(66.40)	79(63.20)	0.596
OCSP infarct classification, n (%)			0.847
TACI	22(17.60)	19(15.20)
PACI	70(56.00)	71(56.80)
LACI	25(20.00)	29(23.20)
Unknown/Other	8(6.40)	6(4.80)
NIHSS, Mean (SD)	8.31(2.43)	7.75(2.72)	0.054
FMA, Mean (SD)	46.06(14.96)	49.28(15.90)	0.175
BSA positive, n (%)^a	103(82.40)	97(77.60)	0.343
VFSS Assessment, n (%)^b	68(66.02)	65(67.01)	0.881
VFSS, Mean (SD)^b	5.26(1.57)	5.55(1.76)	0.319
Cognitive impairment, n (%)^a	78(62.40)	71(56.80)	0.367
Education level, (years)^c			0.397
0–5, n (%)	20(25.64 %)	21(29.58 %)
5–8, n (%)	29(37.18 %)	31(43.66 %)
>8, n (%)	29(37.18 %)	19(26.76 %)
Age, mean (SD), y^c	63.85(10.61)	64.06(10.39)	0.903
MoCA, Mean (SD)	18.27(2.01)	18.35(2.11)	0.806
MMSE, Mean (SD)	20.86(2.64)	20.97(2.65)	0.795

Abbreviations: AG Acupuncture group, NAG No acupuncture group, OCSP Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project, TACI Total anterior circulation infarcts, PACI Partial anterior circulation infarcts, LACI Lacunar infarcts, NIHSS National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, FMA Fugl-Meyer Assessment, BSA Bedside Swallowing Assessment, VFSS Video-fluoroscopic Swallowing Study, MoCA Montreal Cognitive Assessment, MMSE Mini-mental State Examination
^aFAS analysis included 250 cases. The analysis of swallowing disorder was made on the cases who tested positive for the BSA, the analysis of cognitive impairment was made on the cases who tested MMSE ≤ 24 and MoCA ≤ 20
^bOf 200 swallow disorders, 133 patients received VFSS assessment voluntarily, others could not participate due to physical limitations or refused to accept the test
^cPatients with cognitive impairment should be first compared with education level and age. 0–5 years education level means elementary school, 5–8 years education level means middle school, >8 years education level means above high middle school

ISSN: 2662-7671